Current News

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The Institutionalisation of parliamentary party groups so far has either been side-lined or bundled under the concept of institutionalised parliaments and parties, which implies some conceptual confusion.  In their article for the Journal of Legislative Studies Danny Schindler and Oliver Kannenberg introduce a framework to study the institutionalisation of PPGs that can be applied to a broad variety of regime types.

   |   by DH

In their contribution to the Föderalismus Jahrbuch 2024 Calixte Bloquet and Franziska Carstensen examine how members of the German Bundesrat view their role as representatives. They show that, while they primarily represent their Länder, members of the Bundesrat also engage in a variety of different representative relationships. Their understanding of representation is a deeply political one, focused on influencing law-making, and challenges the notion of the Bundesrat as purely technocratic.

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In a parliamentary democracy, the stability of the political order stands and falls with the fulfilment of parliamentary functions; specifically, it is the members of parliament who have to perform these functions. The selection of candidates for parliamentary mandates is therefore of the utmost importance. In 13 chapters, the book examines the questions of who, how, by whom and why candidates are nominated for parliamentary elections in a fundamental and detailed manner from the perspective of parliamentary research.

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In a special issue of the ‘Southeast Europe in Focus’ journal, the results of the 2024 European Parliament elections are analysed in brief country reports. For Croatia, Oliver Kannenberg notes a historically low voter turnout, which is largely due to the preceding parliamentary elections and the low polarisation of the EP elections.

   |   by DH

In the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections, the Identity and Democracy group expelled all members of the German far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany). Taking this as starting point, and drawing on our SOPiP project, the new Blickpunkt sheds light on the formal rules for excluding MPs from their groups in parliament. Investigating 95 documents which span 15 countries, we found that rules greatly vary.

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The parliamentary elections in Croatia had been considered very predictable for a considerable time. The announcement by the president that he wanted to lead the country as the next prime minister then caused shockwaves in the Adriatic coastal state. In his article, Oliver Kannenberg summarises the exceptional election campaign, the results and the subsequent coalition negotiations.

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World Comparative Law invites submissions for an upcoming special issue on public law and political oppositions. This issue is open to all methodological approaches and it will encompass papers investigating  varying political regimes and governmental structures. Deadline for abstracts in 1st June 2024.

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Can the principle of opposition be constitutionalized? Danny Schindler’s study on all African constitutions reveals a wide array of rules to recognize and empower the parliamentary opposition. In general, the dividends of nominally democratic rules might be smaller than expected.

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Article 49.3 of the French Constitution enables the government to pass bills without the consent of the National Assembly, something regularly commented upon. Traditionally
of rare occurrence, the number of its uses has skyrocketed in the past year. This issue of the Blickpunkt takes a deeper look into what this procedure actually is, where it comes from, how it was used historically, and explains the reasons of its newfound relevance in nowadays French political configuration, as well as its risks for parliamentary democracy.

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Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the effectiveness of parliamentary oversight of the Bundestag and the Assemblée nationale was criticised. While the criticism in France focussed primarily on legal obstacles, in Germany the work of the opposition was judged to be inadequate. The article examines the question of which criteria can be used for a more systematic assessment of parliamentary control in times of crisis.